Chương 221: 5.20 Concluded by dusk

What followed was the gruesome part of cleansing. With the Archduke abovehead, there was no longer a real risk of continuing casualties, but he once again chose to not directly interfere any further unless necessary. That made it very similar to the crusade's previous occasions, except for the Edict hanging over them.

"There is something strange happening with magic," Alice declared after their very first battle against a small group of weaker Draugr. As with most such urban battles, they spent more time chasing down enemies than actually fighting them.

"Three guesses as to why," Desir joked.

"I mean, extremely strange. My magic is working differently than it should on a fundamental level. Like… Someone swapped some of my bullets to the wrong calibres at random, and now the gun often has a different kick or refuses to fire at all. I have never felt anything like it."

"It's not so strong for me," Elizabeth noted.

"Just a very slight distortion and suppression. My magic is just weaker rather than outright subverted. Especially when trying to indirectly affect Time."

"Same," Desir said.

"But I am not good enough with Time to confirm if it's just that element in particular that is twisted. Seems likely though."

"For me, nothing feels off," Irwyn admitted. Everyone turned to stare at him thoughtfully, but decided to not comment. Not long after, a different upheaval shook the area when the barrier above them crumbled and vanished. It was accompanied by a massive rush of wind. A gale strong enough to crack doors and knock over anything standing in the street. Following that, four more Raveners were dragged out of the ground around its edges by the Archduke.

He then deliberately froze them in Time where everyone could see in the sky. Most of the fighting was concluded within the hour, which was quite normal. The casualties, though, far exceeded what Irwyn had gotten used to. Instead of a hundred or two, thousands of bodies were dragged off for identification to a gathering spot that the Inquisition had erected above the large pit. The one that had been opened at the very start of the battle.

The town did not have a large enough square, but the new scar was plenty big and did not have anything standing there anymore. The Crusade had lost two Domain mages in those first minutes before the Edict had been decreed. One of the Inquisitors and the representative from the Duchy of Brown. Irwyn did not know either of their names. He overheard that they had both held a single Domain, but that was about as much as he understood.

"I am trying to figure out the Edict, and I have some ideas," Alice said once they were mostly done. They were still helping with moving the bodies, but it was not their task to root out the hidden dangers. Irwyn would merely be asked to double-check at the end if the Inquisitors had missed anything.

"For one, I think we are now completely separated from the River of Time."

"So the Time outside is genuinely fully stopped," Elizabeth nodded.

"Even for an Edict, I didn't think it would be feasible." Most such magic, as Irwyn understood, would only slow down the passage of Time. As the dilation grew increasingly close to completely stopping time, the cost of each further step forward rose exponentially. At least Alice had explained as much in the past. Even she could practically freeze things in time for hours, but the difference between practically and literally was tremendous.

Especially for Truth mages, since slowing their bodies and minds down to a thousandth would not actually prevent them from acting to break out.

"More like, it is passing only here rather than being stopped outside. The best analogy I have is that we have entered a new stream that diverted from the River of Time. However, this stream is circular. We will flow alongside it for a while, but eventually it will return to the main River at the exact same spot it had diverged from. In other words, from the perspective of the outside world, absolutely no time will have passed between the Edict being proclaimed and ending.

Literally not even an attosecond of difference. At least that is my best guess for that part of the Edict."

"And it will last exactly 24 hours," Irwyn said.

"Well, yes, that is what intercalate means." Alice nodded.

"Insert a day into a calendar."

"Really? That makes it sound a bit obvious," Irwyn paused.

"What did you think? Actually, how could you tell how long it would last then?"

"The passage of the sun," Irwyn pointed up. It had moved a small chunk of distance across its axis, but it had been perfectly dawning with the Edict's proclamation.

"For one, I am pretty sure that is not actually our sun, just some kind of… not replica, but maybe a reflection? But more importantly, I can sense exactly how much of its path it has already traveled. Then I just have to convert that to hours in my head. Which I would usually not be easily able to, but here in particular it gets me a sixth sense. I am pretty sure that between sunrise and sunset it will be exactly those 24 hours, then the Edict will end."

"A correct assumption," a new voice sounded between. It seemed that the Archduke kept to some of Marmian's habits.

"Sir," Elizabeth acknowledged him with a slight bow, and the rest of them followed. The battle above was still fresh in all their memories.

"What do you require of us?"

"Nothing, really. As last time, just idle amusement. While the Inquisitors do their work, I am not opposed to chatter. There is far more time in my day than what will be needed to finish everything."

"What about the titled undead? Have they been able to flee with their Souls?" Elizabeth asked.

"No, of course not," the Archduke said with a smile.

"Young Alice was mostly correct in her analysis. We are treading outside the Corpse of Time. But you underestimate how firm of a boundary that is. As long as Chronos flows, all chronology is forced to follow suit at an even pace. One second in one place must always equal the same elsewhere. To dilate that rule is always to fight against an Aspect's pressure, hence why chronomancy is such a difficult art. To truly break that rule and stop Time thus requires an Edict.

But even then, it is only possible because the border of my Edict is completely disconnected from reality.

"You see the faux images from the outside world, as if light still passed through this boundary. As Irwyn pointed out, even the sun is a mere facsimile. Those images exist because I wish them to exist. It is my singular day, so I decide what is the law and the truth. But in magical terms, we currently do not exist as far as the universe is concerned. Even the vast majority of Edicts could not reach across the edges of mine, because there is actually nothing out there."

"A full day, stolen from Chronos," Elizabeth muttered.

"And not a second more or less," the Archduke added.

"Of course, unless I further stretch them out with additional chronomancy. And it just so happens that I made this place predisposed to that. If need be, I could probably spend decades here. But that would lead to other issues. Especially the bone-deep boredom."

"Did you change even the very rules of magic?" Alice asked.

"Is that why mine feels so off?"

"Exactly. Other magics I just weaken; the more powerful, the greater the effect. But Time is my element. I understand it enough to supplant the laws and rules of spellcraft with my own. The ultimate homefield advantage. If I fought a hundred Time mages with a Truth in this place, they would still stand no chance of victory, though I expect the battle would be quite pitched then."

"What was the title of the ones you actually felled?" Irwyn asked curiously, since the Archduke seemed talkative.

"Artorius, the Thrice Broken, Marmian's former mentor from many centuries ago. It is no surprise they would bring him, as he was likely the most familiar with how to restrain him, not to discount the mental impact. Then Feruna, the Dawnbreaker. Once Duke of Yellow, though she had thankfully been brought back much diminished. She has been a massive thorn in Ezax's side as a dedicated counter to his continental influence, but rather weak against anyone else. Then, outside the boundary is Hephises, Heart That Hates.

Powerful Life mage once. He could liquidate my body with a single touch of his magic. His weakness is actually landing that blow, hence why Artorius was meant to restrain me. Or rather, Marmian." This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

"How did you trick them?" Elizabeth asked.

"I cannot believe the Rot would commit to an attack like this without confidence. If I had to guess, the former Duke of Cyan has by now been converted. Even a Duke's protections will wear down eventually, especially with how abruptly he had been taken. But you still deceived his prophecy."

"He indeed has been desecrated. In fact, our plan relied on that inevitability as one of the three primary components. The second was that the Rot would not expect me to so faithfully replicate Marmian's behaviour and personality, even though we share a Truth. I could not have seamlessly switched with him too often. And lastly, you, Irwyn. Which is also why I have come to talk with you over any other group."

"Me?" Irwyn blinked in surprise.

"I have not done anything noteworthy."

"It was a scheme devious in its simplicity. Both me and Marmian have sworn with absolute commitment that if no conversation was had in the previous week between us and you, then Marmian would be the one to travel alongside the crusade. On the other hand, if either of us had talked with you, then it would be me. And if you recall, assuming you have even been told, every prophecy around you returns events as if you did not exist."

"So those predictions all determined with certainty that it would be Marmian who went," Irwyn realised, wide-eyed.

"I never could have imagined… that is incredible."

"It also makes Irwyn a distinct strategic asset," Elizabeth added.

"Unless the undead figure out a workaround, he can scramble divination just as they have obtained a powerful prophet."

"Yes, indeed. Though it is a card less effective once used. I assume the undead had known about your strange invisibility to divination for a while, but the enticement of killing Marmian was simply too great. They chose to risk that the Federation has not realised your true potential. After all, you had already been severely underutilised for months in the Duchy of Black.

Now that they know for certain, we are not likely to get anything even resembling this success again, but it will still restrain them from relying on prophecies in some ways."

"It will still change things," Irwyn said.

"I expect your group will be assigned somewhere safe enough for the rest of the war, yes. Not that it would be a bad idea to begin with, and you are welcome to do so in my Duchy. With today's great victory, the Federation's situation has grown far less perilous. And you have gotten a reasonable amount of experience already. Speaking of…" Then the Archduke vanished and reappeared overhead. Not being subtle at all, he immediately garnered everyone's attention.

A moment later, he teleported who Irwyn recognised to be the Domain mage from the Duchy of Red. Then he brought closer one of the frozen Raveners that had been previously maintaining the barrier. Without any need for explanation, he unsealed them and beckoned for the other man to fight. But that did not happen. The Ravener took a second to assess the situation, shot the Archduke a hateful glare, then detonated itself, burning all of its being to ash.

That left the Domain mage meant to fight it to just float there awkwardly.

"Shame," the Intercalate sighed, though everyone heard his voice.

"Sometimes they do not realise they should do that." He proceeded to swap out the first crusader with another Domain mage and attempted to do the same thing again. In the end, only one of the undead chose to actually fight, but that battle itself was clearly uneven and concluded quickly in the Federation's favour. Once that spectacle was over, the Archduke addressed everyone one more time:"All members of the crusade and all the citizens that have avoided disaster: Pace yourselves. My day has plenty of hours left.

Cleanse the Rot without haste and you will yet have time to rest and plan. I will be watching over you throughout." Eventually, it was done. The Rot was properly rooted out, as confirmed by Irwyn's nose. The last buried undead had taken an hour to find, but it too was vanquished in the end. There would be another battle outside once the Edict ended, yet that was still far away. They had been assured that whoever was making the plans for how they will deal with that would inform them of where to go when it was time.

Therefore, their group ended up finding a relatively intact garden parlor to sit in.

"Town cleared out, and we still have half a day left," Desir shook his head when they did. The sun did indeed appear to be almost right above them.

"This Edict really is miraculous." Irwyn followed suit in head shaking. There was an entire army out there, and yet they could afford to sit around and chat.

"I wonder how much danger he goes through to proclaim it," Elizabeth said.

"I know there is some danger or downside whenever that happens, but even I have not been told the exact mechanics of it. Just that Named mages have died in the past when attempting to use their Edicts or suffered terrible consequences."

"You could probably go ask him," Irwyn pointed out.

"That is just an unnecessary information hazard. It is undoubtedly a secret he holds onto tightly. I absolutely wouldn't want the Rot to know how worried I am going to be about my own."

"Maybe Desir could still convince him," Alice jokingly suggested.

"I don't think he has the Time magic to even catch his eye," Irwyn countered.

"If I could have that in writing?" Desir immediately deadpanned.

"This agai…" Elizabeth started, then looked down in surprise. Irwyn followed her gaze and realised her hand was empty. There was the slightest remnant of magic in the empty spot where she had just attempted to burn letters into air.

"Did… Waylan just steal my notepad?"

"I have no idea what you are talking around," the sneak said as he reappeared to the side. He was literally tearing pages out of it as he did, letting them fall to the ground.

"Alice!" Elizabeth commanded.

"It is pretty funny when it isn't happening to me. I have to reinforce that kind of behaviour by not retaliating, you know?"

"Obey your liege lady!"

"Sure." She grinned. The notepad vanished from Waylan's hands and reappeared in front of Elizabeth. Except it had been so thoroughly shredded in that travel it looked closer to loose pulp rather than actual paper.

"I am afraid you have missed the filing deadline," Desir added on top.

"I am afraid your wages will have been delayed this month, due to an accounting error," Elizabeth glared playfully. Irwyn had to admit it was rather cute.

"Not like we can spend it out here on Crusade. Not even Bhaak would risk appearing right under the Archduke's nose."

"... sounds always the call: On the Rot, the skies shall fall" Irwyn finished casting about half a second before the Edict ended. Exactly as the false sun set, last rays vanishing behind the horizon. That way, there was exactly enough time for the swarm of stars to finish forming overhead and begin plummeting towards the army arrayed on the other side of that impregnable boundary. That way, they did not have even a moment to react when the projectiles began destroying them by the swath.

It had been a long time since Irwyn had needed to use that spell. He had originally made it before even carving his first Concept, a way to channel as much power as possible while he had the time to do so. Which was also a glaring weakness as he was rarely in the position that asked for yet actually allowed prolonged chanting and channelling. Of course, he had also adjusted the spell since then.

Originally, he had been barely able to manifest 40 or so stars that would strike down and then be replenished from his magical reserves once the original projectile broke. With his Concepts behind it, he had summoned hundreds. And that was without truly pushing his limits or compromising on defenses. He was intent on only displaying the power of around seven Concepts to keep the deception going. The conjured stars also did not explode when striking into the horde. That was too inefficient with Finity.

Instead, Irwyn directed them to pierce as many of the undead as they could manage, burning to ash any that were touched, Souls included. The projectiles would only end when all of their magical power was exhausted, at which point a new star would almost instantly appear above Irwyn and strike back down. For the undead army around the city that was mostly of middling power, this was absolutely devastating. Many of the weaker risen were destroyed by merely the heat of those around them being melted.

Irwyn naturally made sure to target the more powerful of them as best he could. There was nothing more powerful than a Draugr in the crowds from what he could see, and even those were not a majority. This was a secondary force, after all, meant to delay small numbers of fleeing mages through numbers and grouped spells. It was not ready for the battle between armies that was being waged upon it. Overhead, the Archduke finished dealing with the last titled Lich.

It had doubtlessly tried to flee, but Time mages were just as hard to run away from as they were to catch. The Duke of Black did not even make another appearance. Desir and Alice stood by Irwyn, though they were not acting the role of artillery like he was. Alice was working on preventing anything from teleporting back into the cleared-out town. Desir was using Fate to amplify the other mages. That was their usual role in battle, though Irwyn had not understood that before.

Besides predicting shifts in the battlefield, Fate mages could also Wrest chance to favour their side. Because a lucky army landed more good hits, yet also found it easier to survive near misses. Elizabeth was tasked with intercepting anything that got close. There were barriers in place, of course, but those could crack or be bypassed. She was flitting all around the place, so Irwyn could barely feel her from time to time before she vanished into the distance again.

Not that their line of Conception mages from the Crusade and the town's garrison were the main prong of their attack. That was the Domain mages. Unopposed by Raveners, they ventured deep inside the enemy lines. Flying overhead—just in case there was Ravener hidden underground, or some such ambush—the destruction they wrought was truly majestic. Irwyn was among the most effective among the Conception mages, yet what he was doing was not even a hundredth of any of the true fighters.

Those would obliterate thousands with each breath. It thus didn't take long for the battle to conclude practically without any casualties on their side as far as Irwyn could see. Their advantage was simply too overwhelming. This was not even the Rots main force anymore and the Edict allowed them to basically commit a face-to-face ambush. That was without even counting the Archduke, who seemed to maintain his outward non-interference.

All he did was confirm a second barrier stood behind the undead army by dragging out the singular Ravener who had maintained it. Then it was clean up again. The Inquisitors and Realm mages combed through the flat plains for whatever hidden danger could be dug out. Irwyn naturally did his part again. That included another sweep through the town, because a few dozen weaker undead had indeed managed to somehow sneak by their formation and re-enter. But eventually, they were done.

The Federation's great victory was set in stone. The battle would probably go down in the history books. Irwyn wondered if he would recognise the town's name when it did.